Football Thread!

[Prolet]

Struja, I have to agree with you there, Serbia probably has the best defense in this world cup to score two past them, its not impossible but the Socceroos lack creativity. I hope it happens but its going to be very hard indeed.

Tommy Oar had one game against Indonesia who is ranked as one of the worst countries in Asia, its more to it then that. He needs to step up like Harry Kewell did at 19 years of age when he scored in Teheran against Iran infront of a 100,000 opposition fans, they simply dont breed them like they used to anymore thats for sure.

The worst thing about all this is that Pim couldnt produce one player in a 4 year period, he should have taken Oar instead of Rukavica or Jedinak. The kid would have been seen by thousands of scouts and he would have picked up a contract in a solid league. The good news is that Australia has a good keeper coming up Mitch Langerat who was at the Victory this year. He is only 19 and look at how athletic he is, he signed for Borussia Dortmund now and in a few years time he will be a good keeper if he works hard, good enough to replace Schwarzer who is in his late 30s

[Spartan]

Spartan, The ball was kicked at him, Kewell didnt lift his hand in the air did he?

He didnt have to...it was already away from his body!
You are misunderstanding the rule....'ball to hand' non call is only given if your arms are tucked closely to your body...I f its away from your torso, and the ball hits it = handball....penalty.
case closed

The ball was kicked hard and Kewell blocked it with his body it hit his shoulder

It did not hit his shoulder...it hit his bicep ie 'hand'.

and we've seen far worse cases not given

.
And visa-versa...penalty was the right call....

What about France-Uruguay where Thiery Henry had a clear penalty shout?

What about it?

The ball is going straight at him, unless he lifts his arm in the air its not a penalty..

Wrong
If the arm is already lifted, it doesnt make a difference.

[Stojacanec]

For me, that was a penalty because it was a handball. It shouldn't have been a red card. The shot made was very close to Kewell he didn't have time to react therefore it wasn't intentional to cause the red card.

I think the referee has the discretion to call a free kick or penalty in this case if the unintentional handball causes a distinct advantage.

This Italian refaree had it in for Australia. How he didn't give a red card to Ghana for their reckless tackle, I'll never know.

The Aussies couldn't take a trick. They played well but nothing spectacular.

[EgejskaMakedonia]

It was a penalty, but I don't believe it was a red card at all. Ghana were also extremely lucky not to have a man sent off from a studs up tackle from behind. The reff was shocking, the Italians always seem to kill us.

That said we did have our chances. Wilkshiere should have slotted that goal, in what appeared to be one of our best chances for the game.

Blagojce, I did see the Maco sun in the stands, I think it was the same one from the 2006 World Cup. They had both the Australian flag and Macedonian sun.

[Origin]

Blagojce, i spotted the maco sun early on and spent the rest of the match trying to spot it again

that said, i hope Ghana are enjoying their comfy penalty points putting them through the group stage, aussies should have won this game.

[Bill77]

This is where you guys have it all wrong. Ball touching the hand/arm/bicep is not automatically a handball it must be deemed intentional or unintentional which is why we always see some paid and some not.
Now Kewell's situation given red card is a corect desision if you believe it was a deliberate (intentional) handball because he was last line of defense and stopped a certain goal which by the rules its an automatic red card. You can't have it both ways a penalty but stay on the park.

My argument would be, after taking many things into consideration it was not a intentional handball therefor no penalty no card is the correct descision.

[Stojacanec]

You can debate whether it was intentional or unintentional. I'm with you I think it was unintentional. But, the question is, was it a handball by defenition.

I think where the ball hit Kewell on the arm is a handball.

The next question is, did it affect the result. In this case, last man on the line, beat the keeper and the answer is definitely yes, therefore penalty.

I was watching a local state league game a few hours b4 the Aust game. A player tried to cross the ball in. The ball struck the apponents arm in a similar spot to Kewell. The opponent was in the box. He was the last man b4 the keeper in this case. There was an appeal for handball and penalty. The ref didn't give it because he said it was unintentional.

But in this case the stopped attempted cross in didn't affect the result, that is the goalkeeper would have caught the ball every time.

So in this case Bill77 your arguments stack up. But if the player kicked for goal and it beat everybody even the keeper and the (unintentional) handball happened the referee has the discretion to blow for penalty becasue it affected the result.

As for the sending off, well we all know the referee was a tosser.

[Phoenix]

I think the bigger problem for everybody concerned and one that seems to frustrate supporters of all codes is the (in)consistency of referees and umpires. Sure, give Kewell the red but apply the same level of technicality to every decision on the park. Why was the FIFA directive to red card, from behind, studs-up tackles ignored in the match by the ref.

Part of the issue and one which continues to haunt Australian teams in their last WC and this current tournamnet is lack of respect, although we have a reasonable world ranking, it doesn't seem to reflect our standing in the 'football community' so to speak. I'm sure if cahill was a German or Italian for example, he probably wouldn't have copped a red, if kewell was playing for France he probably wouldn't have been sent off or if that, from behind, studs up challenge was on a Spanish player the ref would have dug out the red card, asap.

Australia was great, well done boys!!!
Considering the flogging Australia received in the Australian media they fought and ground out a great result, considering all of the nightmare stuff early in the game and since their last game, the Aussies showed remarkable character to stay in the game and were possibly unlucky not to have pinched a win, even after playing for so long with only 10 men.

Everyone, from the media, the fair weather supporters and the outright ignorant queued up to stick the knife into the Aussies, accusations of the team being too old and nobody to score goals has hounded this current team in South Africa, the second oldest team at the World Cup came up against one of the youngest and ALMOST ran them off the park...

Go Aussies!!!

[Phoenix]

Phoenix, Zoran Thaler is not Slovenija. I like Slovenija because they are a small country similar to us if they can play at this level why cant we do it?

Prolet, I find it absolutely despicable when Macedonian's show respect and often admire our enemies...Thaler is Slovenia and he hasn't been the only politician representing Slovenia that has pushed for us to change our identity.

[Struja]

Well done to New Zealand with full of young A-League players.

This is a great example how strong the league has become in just over 6 years. Perhaps one day Australia will play some of its young ones.

[Mr Mousaka]

Just watched the game, well done to New Zealand !
Looking forward to Tuesday's game

YouTube - Messi VS Maradona

[Prolet]

Phoenix, But we beat Slovenija 4-1 away and 2-0 at home we are better then them remember? So they give us hope that we can qualify for the world cup and Euro Cup aswell.

As for the penalty what bullshit, it was a red card because he was the last man back but it wasnt a penalty he never lifted his arm and the ball went straight at him. What Serbia did against Ghana and Germany those were penalties the arm up in the air where as Kewell stood firm and the ball hit his bicep, we've seen far bigger shouts being waved away like Thiery Henry's for example against Uruguay.

As for the Kiwis they deserve alot of respect, with average players they seem to be doing wonders at this world cup. Everybody tipped them to be the whipping boys of the tournament, they've got the same amount of points as England and they've even scored more goals too.

[Warrior]

FIFA mafia at its best using the referees to make sure the stronger teams get to the next round.

The penalty given against NZ was a penalty due to the pull of the shirt, but if that rule is going to be enforced at corner kicks and other crosses into the penalty box, then we should have 6-7 penalties each game. During the WC there has ben heavier fouls in the box, and not given. Perfect example was Kewell being bundled in the game against Ghana in the first 15 minutes. Actually there were two cases for a penalty against Kewell in that game.

Although i am not sure what people are complaining about Kewells send off. It was clear as a day light, it was a goal bound shot, that struck Kewells bicep, which wasnt in line with his body. If his hand was inline with his body, then it is not a handball, but once it is outside of the line of the body, then whether it is deliberate or not it has to be given. He prevented a clear goal, so pubishment has to be given of a red card. Vidic handball did not prevent a goal bound shot, therefore a yellow card was correct. But if a player of the opposition was going to meet the cross and the referee deemed he was going to score, then he would have gotten the marching orders. Its similar to the last man foul, sometimes you will see a red card and sometimes a yellow. But Kewell had to go, blame for all this should go to Wilkshire that didnt clear the ball where the Ghanian beat two bystanders to cut the ball back.....

What I am most shocked is the tackle by the Ghanian player on Bresciano that was not sanctioned with a red card. That was a disgrace.

Lets hope for a miracle in the last game for the Ausssies, but somehow i think the Germans will get a favourable referee in the last game against Ghana.

Only if that idiot sitting on the bench was more positive in the first game, we would not have be in the situation that we are. The goal difference for us, is terrible. Also why did we concede the midfield to the Ghananians once we went ahead, is also mind boggling....

Nonethless they played with spirit against Ghana, but it is obvious we are lacking skilled players that can take the game to the opposition team. In the last 15 minutes when the game had to be won, we resorted to the oldest trick in the book, kick the ball long and hope. Only if Wilkshire put that chance away, but then again Schwarzer made some tremendous saves and the Ghanians copped a goal from a keepers blunder.

[Struja]

well said warrior,couldnt agree more...

[Spartan]

This is where you guys have it all wrong. Ball touching the hand/arm/bicep is not automatically a handball

This does not apply in this case as Kewells arm was away from his body...Warrior explains it well -

Although i am not sure what people are complaining about Kewells send off. It was clear as a day light, it was a goal bound shot, that struck Kewells bicep, which wasnt in line with his body. If his hand was inline with his body, then it is not a handball, but once it is outside of the line of the body, then whether it is deliberate or not it has to be given.